U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview with the Reuters news agency, appears to suggest the United States remains open to exploring an Afghan peace deal that would include the Haqqani network, the militant group that U.S. officials blame for a campaign of high-profile violence in Afghanistan.

Asked whether she believed the Haqqani network might reconcile with the Afghan government, Clinton said that the United States is "not shutting the door on trying to determine whether there is some path forward."

U.S. officials blame the group for last month's attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and a truck bombing that injured scores of American soldiers.

But the State Department has so far refrained from officially designating the Haqqani network, which U.S. officials say is based in western Pakistan, as a
terrorist organization.